Dec 26, 2015

Thank you for watching my 2015 Advent Calendar striptease set on my Instagram account! I've also re-shared every day's "tease clip" here on my blog for those of you who are not on Instagram. This series is truly one of my favorite projects to work on (besides my photography series 'Hotel Series') from concept-ing, location scouting, storyboarding, planning each clip, and editing. Creating this project is a great way to end the year for me and to get excited about the next year. I also believe that no one wants to watch full clips over 3 minutes long (I certainly don't), and Instagram is the perfect medium for the idea of "striptease". A "tease" is a tease, right? It should just be short enough to make you want more, yet long enough to give you a taste.

Dec 23, 2015

Tomorrow is Christmas Eve! I am spending the holidays in Ontario Canada, where unfortunately, there is no sign of snow either. It's foggy and a bit drizzly, but there sure are a lot of sales! It's 1 Canadian to $0.70.

Enjoy the last few days of my advent calendar. Today showcases some of the still photography we took at The Night Hotel, by Mike Webb Photography. We shot stills first and did 3 looks. Then I put everything back on to do the filming parts. It was exhausting but with advance planning and a shot list, it went very smoothly.

It's that time of the year again when I release one of my favorite social media projects - the striptease advent calendar! This year I was able to secure a very cool and modern hotel in NYC to feature all 25 days of tease. If you are a hotel-aficionado like me, you might recognize the location. ;-) I enlisted Mike Webb Photography to do all the filming and some creative lighting as we were working with a very lean system (ie: scarcely anything); and he managed to even add to my ongoing photography project "Hotel Series" while on location! Grace Gotham also helped me to come up with some of the copy for each day.

Oct 9, 2015

I just came back from seeing Margaret Cho's PSYCHO tour in Westbury, NY tonight! I have never been to Westbury and don't know anything about this town other than that her tour was there tonight. We rented a car and drove out to see her in the middle of kinda of nowhere. The only other time I saw Margaret was the NOTORIOUS CHO in 2002 tour years ago in NYC. A lot has happened in her career (a few TV shows, several TV roles, a divorce, etc), and you really got a sense of the revolution of her as a comedienne (and one of my heroines), but more significantly of Margaret as a political activist. From her site:

This show is about insanity, and about the anger I feel about everything happening in the world right now, from police brutality to racism to the rising tide of violence against women. It makes me so crazy – hence the title: “THE PSYCHO TOUR” because there is no “I” in team but there is a “CHO” in psycho”.

Her show opened with a bang with Gina Yashere, a black British comedienne who absolutely slayed. Her set was TIGHT and so well delivered. I was inspired, smitten and pulled right into the CHO madness. Selene Luna followed second and she was so charming and obviously newly smitten in her own personal life as well as that was the central topic of her set. I've only seen Selene on Margaret's hilariously absurd episode in ABC's TV show Wife Swap so it was great to see her do her thing on stage. Selene said it best, this was the most diverse comedy show cast ever: an Asian, a British black woman, and a little person Selene, is there a punch line to this? Well, turns out there were quite a few. I won't give away any spoilers but I did learn several things about Margaret's checkered past and sad truths about her childhood that made my eyes water in the theater. By the time she got to her closing songs performed with the band Jane Lee Hooker, the "psy-cle" came full circle. One of the songs she sang was called "I want to kill my rapist" and I was shocked to see how complacent the audiences were during this obviously heavy song. I would say 90% of the audience were older white folks, which I was surprised by. Maybe because we were in Westbury, NY? Seriously like 90% of the people were older white folks, then you got your gay men's, and lesbians. But it wasn't the most diverse crowd. Again maybe cause it's Westbury? Traffic did take us 1.5 hours to get out there from the Lower East Side... I don't know but I do know that the raw emotion and energy Margaret and the band put into this particular song did not match the audience reaction. Just weird to hear a song like this and see everyone sitting down properly with their nice sweater sets and combed hair-dos.
After the sets were over Selene announced that they were doing an impromptu meet-and-greet but only had 30 minutes since they had to get to the airport at 5am (ah, glamorous tour life!). Varla, Michael, and I waited at the wrong location in the lobby and before we knew it, the line was disappointingly long. But Michael, being the rock star that he is, got us in the VIP lounge where the cast was coming through on their way to the lobby! I really wanted to introduce myself to Margaret just to thank her for her continued support of the Asian Burlesque Spectacular show that I co-produced annually in NYC. She has tweeted about the show two years in a row (thanks to Jen Gapay). Plus, she is truly the first pioneer for Asian Americans in popular culture, before any feng shui, reiki, sriracha, and Fresh Off the Boat. Even Eddie Huang calls Margaret "Chobi-one-kenobi".

I went into the VIP Lounge to wait to ambush Margaret (haha), and there was a group of large white men Homer Simpson looking dudes standing around talking and drinking. The minute I walk in, one of them barked loudly, "Look! It's Margaret Cho's sister!" I was like WTF? Seriously? You are making this racist ignorant joke at Margaret Cho's show? I dryly replied, "No, she's the other Asian here tonight" and I don't think these Homer Simpsons got it at all. I shoulda said, "Look! It's a Homer Simpsons convention here." Who ARE these people who come to this show? One would think if you came to see Margaret Cho, you kinda get it or are in the tribe, no? Guess one can't control how one's message is received, who is receiving it, and what they take (or don't take) from it. Then again, maybe Westbury?

Anyway so finally Margaret and Selene came through with a security guy. Of course the Homers ambushed her first and I'm reminded of when I have to do meet and greets after shows and people want to say hello and thank yous etc when you just want to go to bed! Keeping that in mind I already unsheathed my phone out of my made in China vodka cover so I can get photos of her without taking up too much of her time. So when she came up I introduced myself and thank her for supporting the Asian Burlesque show. Then I asked her, "Why don't you want to do burlesque anymore?" Her reply, "Cause I don't want to wear makeup." LOL here's my face!

Go catch Margaret and her killer cast on this tour. It was absolutely inspiring and grounding to witness an intelligent, powerful and funny woman using the creative platform to raise political awareness with humour, wit, and some cultural i-ching shit thrown in (wink, wink). And if you don't like it, you are dead to me.

Aug 31, 2015

It may be another steamy, humid 90+ week here in NYC, but I'm already thinking ahead to cool, frosty, beautiful winter and started to prepare for my holiday burlesque striptease calendar! It is one of my favorite personal content driven projects to work on and I only release it on my Instagram account. It starts on December 1 to 25. If you missed last winter's calendar, you'll have to scrub through my IG feed to find all 25 mini striptease clips.

This past weekend I shot with Mike Webb Photography again to create the film clips for the calendar. We found a really great hotel deal in awful Times Square, but it is one of my favorite neo-gothic boutique hotels in town that won't break the bank. Everything in the hotel is monochromatic, there is NO color used at all. We shot film and more stills to add to my "Hotel Series" on my website. We were able to get 3 great shots in addition to all 25+ mini clips for the calendar, but the struggle is real, ya'll! Of course halfway through I got tired and just wanted to order champagne and snacks to the room. I swear I was one of those Southern, overweight, filthy rich ladies of the yore who lounged around on a chaise bed eating bonbons all day in a past life. The only way I powered through was promising myself a bowl of decadent pasta (my forbidden food!) after the shoot. And reward I did! I even went to Olive Garden nearby for this awful "treat". Should have gone to Frankie's though because the food sucks at OG. You can taste the over saltiness and low grade ingredients...

I've got many hours of photo processing and film editing ahead, and it's the perfect week to work on this since its really too hot to be out and about anyway. I can't wait to share all the final products! The advent calendar will release on December 1, 2015 but the stills will come out a bit sooner. Here's a little teaser for you!

Aug 23, 2015

Last weekend I flew down to Sarasota, Fl to
perform with the Black Diamond
Burlesque troupe’s 5th anniversary
show at the historic Asolo Theater. I’ve been aware of BDB for a few years when
I first met Miss Petite Coquette at the New Orleans Burlesque Festival in 2011. We hit it off right away and since then she has come up to perform in NYC
with Laura Daniel Gale, producer/owner/co-founder of the Black Diamond Burlesque. When they invited me to come down and be their
guest performer this year naturally I jumped at the chance. I love traveling (more
than anything else as long as Chewie is with me!) and performing second, and truthfully,
its the only way I can spread the “Asian Sexsation” gospel, Amen! In many
cities I tour in, I am often the only Asian person on stage and I would go for
days without seeing another Asian face. It’s not an “issue” or anything, just
an observation. But I just think it makes me as a performer even more impactful
being an Asian burlesque performer for many eyes who have never seen one
before. I also enjoy getting to know other cities' burlesque scene and the community, always interesting to experience what works in other cities and what different audiences like to see.

When I landed in Sarasota’s airport, small and
charming, a nice respite from the insanity of La Guardia/JFK airports, I was
greeted by Laura, Petite, and Vixen! I was floored to be met at the airport
this way – such a great start after the 7am flight!

L to R: Laura, Petite, Vixen (our MC of the evening)

We hit the ground running after a very delicious brunch. First it was the radio interview with WSLR. I was impressed that the DJ did his research and asked me about the music video I was in with Moby's metal glam band Diamondsnake, my shade of lipstick with RED Burlesque, and Huffington Post. Laura has been on WSLR many times before being such an entrepreneur and business woman in Sarasota, everyone knows her.

At WSLR with Laura

I really like what Petite and Laura are doing for burlesque in Sarasota. They are representing the art form honorably and legitimately in a town that is still relatively conservative. Even though Sarasota has an extremely supportive artist community with the rich history of circus luminary John Ringling, the impressive Ringling Museum and the prestigious Ringling College of Art and Design, there are still obstacles the troupe have to overcome being the only group to educate the masses what "burlesque" is.

After the radio interview it was time for my beginner burlesque fan dance workshop in a posh downtown yoga studio that Laura organized. I was thrilled that so many people attended, half were first timers and half were members of BDB troupe, and a couple of girls from the Tampa scene even attended. I love teaching this class so much. Every one brought their own special flare to fan dancing and it was such a great way to meet everyone in BDB and play with them in a workshop atmosphere.
Big thanks to Cindy at Fancy Feather for sponsoring all my fan dance classes and loaning me extra fans for students to use!

Great job ladies and Johnny! So much fun with you!

The next day was the big show date! The historic Asolo theater has an amazing history:

The
theater was originally designed and built in 1798 in honor of Queen
Caterina Cornaro, the widow of the King of Cyprus, who ruled over Asolo,
a small town near Venice, from 1489 until her death in 1510.

Reconstructed in 1857,
the theater – U-shaped with three tiers of boxes, with an architectural
plan and scale of construction common in 18th century court theaters –
remained in its original setting in the castle until 1930, when it was
dismantled and removed, its ornamental panels and decorative elements
kept in storage for the next two decades. In its place, a movie theater
was built and named for the great star of the age, actress Eleonora
Duse, who first performed there in 1885, retired to the town and was
later buried there.

This historic theater was the one we performed in on Saturday night, the interior transported from Italy to Sarasota. It was a magnificent space. I've been so spoiled from my touring in other cities with real theaters, luxurious stages, multiple green rooms, union lighting crew...it has made coming back to NYC a little lackluster. As Tigger once said to me, "Make your name in New York, and make your money else where."

One of the VIP balcony booths

With Miss Petite Coquette backstage between sets

Photo by John Jones

The Saturday show was a phenomenal success! BDB sold out the theater and it was an incredible high to perform for such an enthusiastic crowd. That is one thing I have noticed in my travels - in other cities people treat burlesque shows as a theater event. They get dressed up, they treat it like a big night out, and they are willing to pay $30+ for a ticket. Whereas in NYC...no one would dream of paying more than $30 to see a burlesque show! And its NOT because there are free shows competing for other people's attention, its just because here, no one thinks of burlesque as "theater". Theater in NYC is strictly broadway-related. Burlesque is like the bastard weird child that is half nightlife, half theater, but neither completely. Time Out NY even gave Burlesque its own section away from Theater, Comedy, Nightlife, but even that was short-lived as the editors have decided to kill the Burlesque section completely a few months ago. In NYC, we also don't have incredible, affordable, non-black box theater spaces to work with. The ones that exist ask for minimum rental fees that start in the thousands. The only proper theater space that is burlesque-appropriate is The Slipper Room.

Opening group number. Photo by John Jones.

Curtain call. Photo by John Jones.

One of my favorite post show photos at the party at Selvo in downtown. L to R: Matthew Holler, amazing photographer based in Sarasota and NYC; Spikey van Dikey, an incredible drag king performer and also a total babe and fantastic cook; Miss Petite Coquette co-founder and star performer of Black Diamond Burlesque. Photo by John Jones.

With Candy Muldane, member of BDB. At Gator Club upstairs. It is the oldest building in Sarasota and was once a brothel. Photo by John Jones.

The next morning, by sheer will power and not willing to break appointments, I squeezed in a Sunday morning photo
shoot with House of The Broken Dragon andLittle Skull Photography to model some of their custom, handmade kimonos. It was a sheer
miracle that I was able to wake up early, put my face on, do my hair, and power
through a 4 hour shoot! Once I got to the studio and saw the amazing lighting
that Mike and Jocelyn created for each set, I knew this was going to be great. We did several shots in 4-5 different kimonos and used cool props
to create a series of photos that are very evocative of chinoiserie reminiscent
of some of the art work I saw at The Met’s “China Through the Looking Glass”. I can't wait to get the final series and share them! If you are in the Tampa Sarasota area and need pinup photos, you gotta hit up Little Skull! And you have to try to catch a Black Diamond Burlesque show!

Beautiful bay views from the tiki bar where Laura treated me to delicious fish tacos and a cold beer! I saw some dolphins here too.

I loved waking up and falling asleep to this lightbox that Petite made for her guest room.

Here are some of my favorite shots from the show by John Jones:

Photo by John Jones

Photo by John Jones

Photo by John Jones

Photo by John Jones

Photo by John Jones

Photo by John Jones

Photo by John Jones

Photo by John Jones

I loved these name boards BDB used for our intros. Classy! Photo by John Jones

Aug 13, 2015

Only a Texan would plan a trip to Texas in July, and only a burlesque performer would plan a TOUR in Texas in July! And that is exactly what I did last month. I organized a nice little tour in my home state and managed to get in a week's worth of time with my family as well. The trip coincided with two other NYC performer's traveling schedules (Grace Gotham and Bettina May) so we all decided to try to organize as many shows together as possible while we were all in Texas. Since I lost my drivers license years ago (not due to anything as salacious as DWI but mere expired for too long...) I told my parents I was going to "borrow" my older brother and make him chauffeur us around the 100+ Texas heat. And chauffeuring he did! He drove us to Houston, Austin, Corpus Christi, and all my local gigs in Dallas/Fort Worth. I've never gone on a road trip with my brother so it was actually kinda sibling bonding time and for us, it was bonding over many episodes of the classic Twilight Zone series.

While we were in Houston, Bettina (ever creative and industrious) pulled out her camera in our hotel room and we shot a few photos for my Hotel Series. I love adding to this growing series on my web site especially photos from different photographers.

There is a funny story about this photo. I tend to not like photos of myself laughing or smiling. I find that I have to have a real laugh for the photo to appear genuine. In all the fake smile/laugh photos, I look like a demonic clown so I tend to prefer photos of myself like this:

But Bettina managed to capture me in a moment of genuine joy and laughter mainly because of what Grace Gotham was doing in the background which a lady can not divulge! Let's just say that I will forever think of this photo as the wonderful moment where Grace Gotham elicited an authentic laugh from me during a photo shoot.

Mar 3, 2015

We have finalized our cast for the 3rd year! Like last year we commissioned Yao Xiao to create our poster art work. I have received many inquiries from burlesque performers nationally about how to be involved. This makes me so happy when I receive an inquiry, because I am getting to know more and more Asian performers out there! Right now this one-night event is by invitation only. We, that is, the producers (Jen Gapay, Sukki Singapora, and myself) hope to turn this to a 2-3 day festival soon and be able to have an open application process. In the meantime if you are interested to be involved in the event in the next year, please feel free to email me your video clip of the act you would like to submit. We are always casting through the year and it's never too early to get in the pool!